Alright, for those of you who know my family, then you probably know my dad and his dry sense of humor. For those of you that don’t, welcome aboard. You are about to get a glimpse into the Ogletree family. One of our famous family terms is “lunch eater.” This is the term used to describe the person who isn’t too busy to eat lunch. You know those who are NOT so consumed by their jobs/lives that they allow an hour of “personal time” to go eat lunch and visit with people. According to the average medical field worker, most people only have about umm 5 minutes to eat lunch because … ehhh I don’t know… the workload is overwhelming and extreme and they feel crunched for time. Therefore they do not eat lunch.
Okay, so I have a funny “lunch eater” story and then I will head into the point of this blog. When I was in nursing school, I had to go to Jackson, MS to do pediatric clinical rotations. My dad teaches at the hospital I was working at, so some classmates and I headed to his office to get a gift certificate so we could eat at a near by restaurant. As we walked into his office, he handed me the gift certificate. He then looked at his students and said “guys, what do we call these kind of people,” as he tilted his head pointing it towards us. I kid you not, in unison, with dull Napoleon Dynamite-like, monotone voices, they all said “LLLUUUNNNNCCCH EEEAAATTTEEERRRSSS.” I could tell they were a little jealous. Well that was my introduction to the term which has now been thrown around in many Ogletree conversations.
As I use the term lunch eater in this blog, recognize I am not using it as a literal term, I am using it as a way of describing someone with “personal time.” Okay, so on to the point of this blog… just wanted to catch y’all up on the term.
For the past 2 months I have been a “lunch eater.” I have been floating around freely, seeing family, saying goodbye to friends, and well… eating lunch. This week, it’s officially CRUNCH time. (No pun intended)
Many of my teammates have been working hard over the past few months at their last weeks at their job. The month of August for them is a month of rest. A month to visit family, and month to say goodbyes, and a month to be lunch eaters.
Tomorrow I head out to the Cayman Islands. I will be there for 2 weeks teaching a CYIA (Christian Youth in Action) and acting as a camp nurse. Pretty much, we will be teaching teens how to teach children the gospel. I committed to this trip long before God asked me to go on the World Race. He knew that if I already had the WR on my calendar I would have chosen not to go.
Today, I realized life as I know it is going to look different. As, I prayed I was reminded of the truth a friend told me a few months back. Yes, it may seem illogical to others, but sometimes logic is a tool Satan uses to keep us from doing the extraordinary. I mean, does God telling Noah to build an ark seem logical? Does God telling Moses to part the Red Sea seem logical? Does God telling me to go on a short term mission trip weeks before a long-term mission trip seem logical? No, but that is the God we serve. He uses ordinary people who trust Him to do extraordinary things, and sometimes they just seem illogical.
After being hit with this truth, I am stoked. No longer am I nervous about feeling cruched for time, I am happy I was allowed time to be a “lunch eater” so I could spend time with friends.
I asked Him to send me, so tomorrow I go. I am no longer a lunch eater. I have a job to do, and I am going to give my everything to listen to Him and do what He asks me to!
I will update y’all on the CI and any prayer requests. As of now, please pray for safe travels for our team and that we have open ears to listen to what He asks us to do.
Thanks for reading, now go eat your lunch.
Love y’all
Liz
